Flirtations
by Cory Holmes
Summary: A collection of really short stories about Luke and Mara's romance over the years
1. Author's Notes

Author's notes

This story came about from a discussion regarding how little actual romance existed between Luke and Mara between the Thrawn Trilogy and their marriage in Union. To correct this slight overlook, this collection of short stories were compilied and posted.

Please note that "short story" is the operative term here. Perhaps "tiny story" might be a better description. These tiny little blurbs don't follow any specific chronology or timeline and can be read in almost any order.

And this is a constant work-in-progress, as new ideas are conceived and written down, so keep checking back often. In a shameless attempt at bribing more feedback out of you, I'm going to point out that more reviews are a guaranteed way of getting more of these blurbs. So I'm a feedback junkie, sue me :)

These stories won't have any rating more serious than PG-13, if that at all. And one last thing:

All theirs. Lucas', Zahn's, LucasArts'. This is being written with no permission from said owners and absolutly no profit is being made from any of this (though I wouldn't mind a penny or two...).


	2. Story 1

Flirtations

Leia Organa Solo shook her head at her brother, who was enjoying a morning caf. She knew it wasn't his preferred drink, which only made her wonder more about what was going on in his head. She tried focusing her own fledgling Jedi abilities to get a clearer picture of his mind, but got nothing back. 

Though he tried to hide it from her, Leia knew that he missed the days of being "one of the boys" among the New Republic fighter pilots and missed his friends of those days, which is why he occasionally stopped by their lounges on Coruscant and joined them in some lighthearted banter and reliving past battles. This morning Leia, her husband, and their companion found him sitting with Wedge Antilles and the other members of Rogue Squadron, gesturing wildly and grinning. She caught the odd word here and there, and knew that the soldiers were describing the mixed expressions of horror and rage that the flight mechanics invariably wore whenever they brought their X-Wings in for a landing.

Wedge slapped Luke on the back and leaned in close to the other pilots, as if letting them in on some classified secret. Whatever he said must've been extremely funny given the level of laughter that bubbled out of Rogue Squadron and the barely-repressed grimace of embarasment her brother wore. Then Luke grinned to himself, jerked a thumb at Wedge and said something. Laughter ceased. Wedge winced and blushed. Laughter resumed.

"Maybe we should come back later," Han suggested, bringing Leia back to the reason why the three of them were looking for Luke in the first place. Their companion murmed a negative, mumbling something about how time was of the essence. Leia started forward but stopped when she felt an arm on her own.

"Allow me to get his attention," the third person said with a slight smirk.

Luke paused with his mug on his lips when he felt a ripple in the Force. A small ripple, barely noticable, really. He shrugged to himself and took a mouthful of his drink. An action that proved to be a mistake once the ripple coalesed around him and an image flooded into his mind.

An image of a trim young woman. A trim young woman who was laying on the beach. A trim young woman who's red-gold hair and green eyes were shimmering in the crystal-clear daylight. A trim young woman who was wearing an ear-to-ear grin and nothing else...

Everyone in the room blinked in surprise as Luke, for no apparent reason, suddenly spat his morning caf halfway across the room.

Dead silence reigned.

He coughed and gasped and for a long moment before he ground out, "Good morning, Mara!"

Mara Jade strode foreward and smoothly took a seat opposite him in the only one that miraciously had escaped being covered in caf. She crossed her legs and arms, appearing to be completely at ease, and leaned back, regarding the coughing Jedi Knight with ill-disguised glee. Once Luke finally recovered and glared at her, her face broke into a broad grin. "Are you awake now?" she asked innocently, her eyes filled with everything but innocence..

Luke only glared at her for a moment before shaking his head and laughing himself. "You'll pay for this," he promised. 

Mara didn't even bat an eyelash at the promise. Her grin stretched wider. Teeth gleamed. "Bring it on, big boy," she challenged. Luke merely inclined his head a little, accepting.

Leia shook her head and glanced over at Han, who was chuckling himself and trying to keep a straight face. When Luke opened his mouth to retort Mara's unspoken accusation that he wouldn't be able to get her back, Leia strode forward to remind them all that Mara was actually here on business and not just pleasure.


	3. Story 2

Talon Karrde couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, hero of the rebellion, pillar of justice and peace, and all-around pain in Mara's rear, was having a barely-restrained "conversation" with General Bel Iblis over his participation in a New Republic formal dinner.

Skywalker's penchant for skipping such formal gatherings was well-known in the upper echelon's of the New Republic hierarchy, so actually having him attend was a miracle unto itself. Getting him to attend and participate was something else entirely. Bel Iblis was apparently trying to drum up support for his plan to expand the military's sphere of influence beyond its current boarders with the Empire, and probably felt that having Skywalker present at the dinner he was going to announce it at would only be a good thing.

Doubtless, Bel Iblis had probably gone to Organa Solo first, trying to get her to convince her brother to attend, like she'd done in the past. Karrde also thought it was a good bet that she'd finally taken one too many requests for just that same intervention with her brother, and told the good General to ask Skywalker himself. Which really wasn't going so well, Karrde reflected, given how vigorously Skywalker was shaking his head.

He looked aside at his second-in-command and saw Mara shake her head. She couldn't tell if Skywalker was actually going to make the General get down on his knees and beg, a sight Karrde would've paid good money to see. 

He glanced over at Skywalker's companing, Han Solo himself, and raised an eyebrow at the other man. Though Solo had long gone "respectable" and even accepted a short commision within the same military Bel Iblis now served, Karrde knew that Solo still felt like a backworld smuggler around all the stuffy cardboard-stiff officers he'd been forced to deal with over the years.

Solo only replied with a shake of his head and rolled his eyes in a gesture of exasperation that Karrde certainly agreed with. Dealing with Bel Iblis and others of his ilk was often like slamming one's head into a ferroconcrete wall over and over again. All one could get from that was a massive headache and no progress.

Karrde's thoughts were interrupted by Skywalker making a "that's final" gesture and breaking free of the interrogation. Then he and Solo wandered over to Karrde and Mara to finish the business they'd been discussing before Skywalker had been so rudely interrupted. Bel Iblis started out the door but was stopped short when his comlink buzzed.

"I swear, I have no idea how Leia handles those social irritations," Skywalker was muttering when they approached.

Solo answered with, "That makes two of us. But you should be thankful that you're not forced to go, like I am. At least you have the option of saying no."

"An option I'm now using."

"Oh, come on, Skywalker," Mara broke in. "It can't possibly be that bad."

"Of course it can. Four hours of constant pestering by those who want to see the Force reduced to mere parlour tricks. Thanks, but no thanks. I think I'll pass." Skywalker came around and stopped beside Mara, turning once again to look at the General. "Besides, who would I go with? You?" he asked rhetorically.

Since he wasn't looking at her, Skywalker couldn't see Mara's green eyes narrow dangerously. Karrde did. Solo did. Even Bel Iblis did. Skywalker didn't see her rear back and slam her elbow into his ribs, hard. Everyone in the room knew that she was very strong and skilled in hurting other beings, and thus everyone had a healthy fear of irritating her.

Karrde winced. Solo winced. Bel Iblis winced. Bel Iblis' aides winced. Everyone winced... except for Skywalker. The Jedi only snorted softly before finally turning to look Mara in the eye. He held her gaze for a moment before slowly smirking down at her, as if her elbow had done no more inconvience to him than a gnat to an AT-AT.

Mara scowled up at him, her nose wrinkling in disgust at his lack of reaction. She spun on her heel and stomped out of the room.

Dead silence reigned. No one spoke for fear of upsetting Mara on her way out. In fact, no one moved, except for Solo, who merely leaned over to watch her departure from the room. Solo watched and waited until...

"Okay, she's gone."

And Skywalker promptly collapsed against the conferance table, coughing and wheezing madly. One arm clutched his ribs, the other barely supporting himself.

"I'd forgotten just how strong she was," he gasped out

Karrde caught Solo's eye while the Jedi was still trying to regain control of his breathing. The two men knew what the other was thinking and put down silent bets.


	4. Story 3

Karrde looked over the bridge of his ship. The crew of the Wild Karrde did their jobs with their customary efficiency and skills, but something was off. He looked down at Mara and Aves, manning the pilot and co-pilot stations respectivly, Aves with his omnipresent cup of caf on the shared console between the two stations. Mara had apparently banned the drink from her side of the forward stations, and Aves was apparently trying to push her buttons by keeping it just barely on his side.

Karrde shook his head. When would the people ever learn not to push Mara too far? All they had to do was look at Skywalker to see what happened when that happened. Karrde barely supressed the grin that quirked his lips at the antics Mara and the farmboy displayed whenever they were in close proximity to each other.

"Close proximity" as defined as "within comm range of any ship they're currently on", Karrde thought and had to repress another grin when he considered just how much fun he was going to have in the next few minutes, if their contact arrived on schedule.

Dankin's voice interruped his thoughts. "Ship coming out of hyperspace, on the port side. Uhh... it looks like a New Republic frighter."  
"Relax, that's our contact," Karrde assured the other man, closely watching Mara out of the corner of his eye. She'd suddenly sat up in chair at the description of the other ship. Then she started rocking back and forth in her.

"Anybody but Skywalker. Please, anybody but Skywalker," she softly mumbled, as if asking some higher power. Then her face locked into a grimace when the familiar Tatooine farmboy's voice came over the comm system.

"Hello there, Wild Karrde! This is- what's that?" Skywalker broke off as the sound of Mara softly hammering her head against her console was loud enough for the communications microphone to pick up and transmit. And Karrde, a man who prided himself on being able to control his facial expressions, was reduced to covering his mouth with his hand to hide the grin he couldn't supress. He glanced around and saw the other members of the bridge crew not even bothering to hide their own grins.

Struggling to bring himself under control, Karrde finally answered the other man. "Nothing at all, Skywalker. In fact, why don't you come over so we can talk in person?" he asked with sadisitc glee. Mara sat stiff as a board in her chair, considering that not only would she have to be withing comm range of the man, but on the same ship? And she probably knew that Karrde would ask her to attend the meeting, given that she was second-in-command of the whole organization. Yep, she knew it already, judging by the glare she threw over her shoulder at him. He only inclined his head, reminding her of the propor duties of a host. Mara grimaced again and leaned her head against her screen.

Aves just couldn't resist stirring the waters, since he leaned across the center console and said, "Just think of it as a chance to see your favourite hero, Mara."

Mara didn't even look up as she reached over and smacked Aves upside the head.


	5. Story 4

"No, you listen to me! I'm tired of explaning this over and over again. Which part of this painfully simple and obvious schedule is unclear to you?" Pause. "All of it?" Pause. "Gah! You dumb, simple-minded, pea brained... Jedi!" Mara's voice exclaimed.

Karrde swivled around to look at the source of the and then just as quickly looked away. She was having another "discussion" with Luke Skywalker, though he was thankful that the Jedi was on a different ship altogether. He wasn't sure his own vessel would survive the explosive combination of Mara and Luke. She was wearing a headset, so Karrde and the rest of the bridge crew were reduced to guessing at what Skywalker was saying.

Aves, who was again acting as copilot, tried to crawl as far away as possible from the woman's flailing limbs as she gesticulated wildly, apparently heedless of the fact that Skywalker couldn't see her. Aves turned to Karrde and silently pleaded the Captain to step in and make her stop.

Karrde knew better. He left Aves to his own fate.

Dankin, Chin, and the rest of the bridge crew, on the other hand, were watching with undisguised grins. Because of the bridge layout, pilot and copilot stations fore, the rest of the stations aft, and the Captain's Chair in the middle, they had a safe distance from which to enjoy their favourite sport: Jade vs Skywalker.

Karrde had to shake his head at that. Even though he found Mara and Skywalker's interactions as funny as the rest of them, he didn't try to deliberatly steer the two of them into face-to-face meetings as often as possible. Added to their clashing personalities was the fact that both of them tended to walk around armed with very deadly weapons. Though he was certain they wouldn't try to kill each other, there was always the possibility of an accident...

"Okay, okay, let's take this from the top once again. You go to Courscant, we go to Hoth. Can your farmboy brain handle that? Good. Now then, after that- no, wait. You should probably write this down. That way you can show it Solo and he can fly it. After all, he can fly much better than you; which means that he can fly in a straight line _without_ slamming into a planet!"

Long pause. Then Mara's eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped slightly. Her mouth worked up and down for a moment but no sound came out. Then her lips pressed into a tight line and her nails dug deep furrows in the arms of her chair. A long moment passed before anything was said, and when she did speak, her voice was calm and cool. "Captain Karrde, may I be excused from the bridge for a moment?"

Karrde raised an eyebrow at her odd and rare use of such fomality, but agreed. Mara calmly reached over and switched off her comm and removed her headset. She stood and walked to the hatch at the aft end of the bridge, but never made it through the door.

She stopped just short and leaned against the sensor console. Then she took a deep breath as if to calm herself. When that didn't work, she took a second deep breath. Midway through her third deep breath, she gave up on calmness and reached out into midair, her hands forming a tight circle around an imaginary Jedi's neck. 

Mara made little gasping noises from the back of her throat and her hands slowly lowered, as if she were choking Skywalker to his knees. Her green eyes were blazing dangerously and a wicked smile curved her lips. As soon as her hands got low enough, Karrde imagined Skywalker's body falling to one side, and Mara took one large step and brough her booted heel squarely down on the imaginary Jedi's... Karrde, and every other male, winced.

Mara strode back to her station, the spring back in her step and her eyes twinkling with satisfaction. "Now then, where were we? Oh, yes, we were discussing what to do after Hoth..."


	6. Story 5

Luke shook his head. Mara wasn't being unreasonable or irrational for a reason. In fact, she wasn't being any of those things. Mara was simply being... Mara, for lack of a better description. And Luke knew ahead of time that he was going to have trouble convincing her to stay on Courscant for a few extra days so he could hitch a ride on her ship to Yavin IV.

Doubtless she was resistant because she didn't want another "recruitment pitch" as she termed it. However, Luke wasn't about to let that stop him from at least trying. If only she'd stick around the Academy for more than a few days at a time, she might actually learn something of use... His thoughts were interrupted by a hand whapping him upside the head.

"Skywalker, you're not ignoring me, are you?"

"No, Mara. Never happen," he replied absently.

"Good. I would hate to have to resort to violence to keep your attention where it belongs."

"Yeah, right," Luke snorted softly, "hate to use violence, indeed." Not soft enough, apparently, since Mara glared at him. Honestly, didn't she ever tire of doing that? Luke asked himself as he turned to face her fully, she doing the same. "I don't see the problem, Mara. You delay your depature for a few days while I finish up my business here, then I hitch a ride back to Yavin IV with you."

"The problem, oh great and magnificant Jedi, is that I don't want to spend a week and a half with you in hyperspace listening to your futile attempts at why I should train to be a Jedi. I don't want to be, so it's not gonna happen. Nope, nope, nope."

"What makes you say that? You're strong in the Force. Strong enough to be a great Jedi if you weren't scared of it."

"What did you say?!" Mara screeched, her voice hitting a pitch high enough to have shattered glass.. Luke winced and put a reassuring hand on his lightsaber to make sure the crystal inside was still in one piece.

"You heard me," he continued. "I think you keep saying no because you're scared."

"No, no, no," she shook her head violently enough to send her long hair flying, her voice rising in volume. "That's where you're wrong, farmboy. I choose not to be a Jedi, not scared of being a Jedi! And if you think that's wrong, then-!" She broke off as Luke raised his hand.

"Maybe we should continue this elsewhere. We seem to be attracting attention," he gestured at the large hallway they stood in, where every single sentient being had stopped what they were doing and turned heads, eyestalks, and psudopods to watch the two "talk".

Mara glared at them all, but that did little to turn their heads away. Her gaze followed down the row of doors until they settled on Karrde, Leia, and Solo. The three were grinning widely and whispering amongst themselves. Luke saw Mara's eyes narrow in disgust at being the centre of attention, a feeling Luke shared. A slow grin worked its way across his lips as an idea formed in his mind.

"Hey, Mara. Since they're having such fun at our expense, how about we have some fun at theirs?"

Mara looked puzzled until she figured it out. Then she grinned too.

Leia shook her head at Luke and Mara's antics, but that didn't stop her from enjoying them. Han nudged her ribs with an elbow and winked at her as both Luke and Mara blushed slightly when they learned that they were making a scene again.

Han swore to himself that if they didn't realize they were flirting with each other, then they each the worst case of denial that Han had ever seen. Then his attention was again caught as Mara flung her arms wide open, her eyes blazing and her face set... but no words coming out of her mouth.Luke cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer back.

Mara scowled up at the Jedi Master and gesticulated wildly, obviously trying to get some point across. Again, she didn't speak a word.

Luke held up a hand to stop her from arguing... if that's what she was doing.

Han exchanged quizzical looks with his wife and Karrde before the three of them realized that they were still arguing... telepathically.

Luke and Mara started off down the corridor, and Luke rolled his eyes. Mara whirled around and blocked his way, her eyes blazing with unspoken anger. Again, her arms flew about as she gestured wildly, as if hand motions could somehow make her point clearer.

"I wish I knew what they were talking about," Leia commented softly.

"There! You see? You see what it's like?" Han demanded, as he was often the one left out of the "Jedi thing" his wife and brother-in-law often shared when they communicated without words. Leia only nodded her head numbly, sill entranced at the sight of Luke and Mara arguing telepathically.

In fact, it wasn't until the two Force-users rounded the corner and disappeared from sight that their laughter carried down the hall to their audience.


	7. Story 6

The flight control officer sighed as she sat down for her shift. From the ammount of traffic out there, it was going to be a long day. Normal Couruscant traffic wasn't a problem, since there were a proportional number of control people to deal with them. But every now and then, the amount of traffic built up at one time and it was a rush to get the block out and off-planet as soon as possible. Nevertheless, she took her headset and plugged it in, trying to steel herself for the arduous task ahead of her.

"This is Flight Control to private frieghter _Jade's Fire_, please respond," she started, but then stopped. Apparently, the comm system on the ship in question was already active because as soon as she opened her connection, a loud voice carried over her headset.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" a female voice demanded. There was a long pause.

"Nope," a male companion answered. A longer, more dangerous silence followed.

"What did you say?" the woman asked in a low, dangerous voice that promised trouble.

"Well, you just seemed to be enjoying the sound of your own voice so much, I really didn't have the heart to interrupt you." An even longer silence followed as the woman processed what had just been said.

"Skywalker, when I get my hands on you-" she started, but was interrupted.

"Excuse me, but we've got some company. This is the _Jade's Fire_, Flight Control, we acknowledge," the man said conversationally, as if none of the previous argument had happened.

The flight control officer sat in her seat in mild shock for a moment before she realized that she was finally getting the response she wanted, though it took her a moment to find her voice. "Um... you're cleared for take-off and pattern integration. Unfortunatly, the pattern is a little clogged right now, so your departure window for Yavin IV won't be clear for another hour in the pattern. Your choice to fly it or wait on the ground."

"We'll wait on the ground, thank you, Flight Control. Now then, Mara, you were about to visit some physical pain upon my body?" he responded.

"Oh, you can bet I am," the woman responded, and then a loud smack carried over the comm system before the connection was finally cut.

The officer just sat back in her seat and tried to figure out what just happened. A blinking light finally caught her eye and she realised that the whole conversation had been recorded by the QC department's monitoring equipment. A silly grin spread across the woman's face as she realised exactly what she could do when she got her hands on a copy of that conversation.

One thing was sure, that night's after work drink with her friends would be very interesting indeed.


	8. Story 7

Karrde just couldn't believe it. He'd been shaking his head ever since Mara had agreed to bring Skywalker to Yavin IV in the _Jade's Fire_, but this was just too much.

He was meeting with Skywalker himself, in the Jedi Master's office in the Jedi Academy, and just couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Care to run that by me again?

I'd like for you to leave Mara here for a few weeks, Skywalker repeated. Even Solo looked puzzled, while Organa Solo just sat there dumbfounded.

Because she's been overworking herself and could use the break.

Ah. And not because you want her here so you can train her?

Not just because of that, I assure you.

Karrde thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons.

I think it's a good idea, Solo piped up, but Karrde ignored him as that was Solo's usual comment when concerned with Mara and Skywalker.

She won't find it relaxing, Karrde suggested.

It'll be a way for her to unwind from the pressures at work, Skywalker responded.

She'll be pissed, Karrde tried.

She'll get over it quickly.

She'll be pissed off at you, directly, Karrde pressed.

How's that any different than normal? Skywalker challenged, and Karrde silently cursed. Because of the way the other man had phrased it, Karrde was left with no easy answer. He could either say that Mara has always been angry at Skywalker, which wasn't true; Mara had helped Skywalker many times because she wanted to, not because she had to. The other option was to tell Skywalker that yes, Mara occasionally thought nicely of the Jedi Master, which would make Mara angry at _Karrde_ when she found out. Fortunatly there was another way...

I don't control Mara's comings and goings, she's got her own ship, you know.

I know, which is why I'm having Artoo remove her hyperdrive motivators as we speak, Skywalker returned, grinning.

Karrde could feel his breath freezing in his chest, his heart squeezing. It was a few moments before he could force himself to speak.

Care to say that again? he croaked.

Artoo is removing the _Fire_'s hyperdrive motivators right now, and I'm asking you not to give her a ride out of here.

Karrde was at a loss for words after that. No one but Skywalker would ever have the guts to do that to Mara. Not even Solo, who was rather well-known for doing the crazy and stupid things, would never even consider doing that.

You know what she'll do to you for that? Solo finally groaned out, at a loss for words himself.

Yep. In fact, we'll find out what she'll do in... five, four, three, two, one... Skywalker softly counted.

Then, right on cue, Mara burst into the room, her face flushed and her fists balled and she stormed right up to Skywalker's face.

You... you... you... you... _you_...! she snarled, her balled fists waving about as she gesticulated wildly.

Hardly frightened, Skywalker appeared to be greatly amused, since his grin grew with every repitition.

When it finally became apparent that she wouldn't be able to articulate more than that, Mara broke off with a disgusted, , spun on her heel, and stomped out of the room, only pausing long enough to throw a withering glare over her shoulder that Skywalker largely ignored.

Karrde shook his head again. It's your life you're putting on the line, he said, agreeing to keep Mara on Yavin IV for the moment, though his motives were a bit more based on watching to see exactly how Mara would get Skywalker back for that...


	9. Story 8

The nighttime animal noises did little to help matters. Mara fumed as she took her clothes out of her small travel bag and punched them into the small dresser in her equally small room at that infuriatingly small Jedi Academy. With every thrust of her hands, she imagined slamming Skywalker right in the nose. 

Nice thought.

She was running through her rather extensive list of curses and insults, all of them directed at a certain Jedi Master, while she tried to convince herself that there was some possible way to enjoy being trapped on Yavin IV for as long as Skywalker decided to hold on to her hyperdrive motivators. Of course, there was always the option of finding Skywalker and physically beating the parts out of him.

Nicer thought.

Mara took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Violence was her usual answer to most of the problems that came her way, but lately she'd been thinking that that might not be the perfect mindset for dealing with the Jedi. As much as she hated to admit it, Skywalker was almost assuredly a better fighter than she, especially when his mastery of the Force made her proficiency pale in comparison.

She just couldn't figure out why she kept rebuffing Skyalker and his constant recruitment pitches. If he thought that she could be a powerful Jedi, then why shouldn't she take him up on his offer? Afterall, he was the acknowledged authority in things concerning the Force.

Mara thought back over the developments of the last few hours. He was also the person to trap her here on that stupid backwater planet. She sighed. It's not that she really hated Yavin IV, it's just that it was a jungle world. Ergo, it was hot and humid, all the time, and she hated sleeping in hot, humid weather. She muchly preferred Coruscant and its more moderate climate. Fortunatly, she'd lucked out and had (accidentally) come prepared.

Mara pulled out the last article from her bag and regarded it with a critical eye. It looked like it would fit the bil for her temporary home.

Oh, well, Mara decided, stripping out of her jumpsuit and into the sleepwear. As was normal, it was going to be a warm night on Yavin IV, so she slid into her small cot and tried to sleep.

A few hours of surprisingly comforting sleep later, Mara awoke to a dark feeling in the back of her mind, a feeling of something... not right. The tremor in the Force rippled on the edges of her waking mind before vanishing completely. Mara blinked her eyes and sat up in her bed, trying to decide if she'd actually felt what she thought she did or if it was just a dream.

She focused on what she'd felt, but only remembered vague impressions. A dream, she decided and flopped back down, trying to get back to sleep. No such luck. Her mind just wouldn't let her take that easy route. Grumbling, she stood up after half an hour of tossing and turning, and left to find the only person who could possibly give her answers.

Mara knocked on Skywalker's door quietly, hoping to avoid disturbing any of the his students, whom would no doubt need every scrap of sleep they could get. She knew just how hard Skywalker drove his students, how difficult Jedi training was. When she got no answer, she simply opened the door and walked into his room.

She made her way through the antechamber and into the bedroom proper, where she promptly froze in place, her jaw going slack.

Apparently, Skywalker felt the same way about Yavin nights as she did, since he slept with very little clothing on. Mara could now personally attest to that fact. Against her will and better judgement, Mara just stood in the door to his bedroom and watched him. Her eyes started at the headboard of his bed and slowly worked their way down, her mouth getting progressivly drier. She knew that Jedi training was mentally and spiritually demanding, and understood that it was physically intensive as well, but she didn't realize just how much physical work was involved until she saw the results displayed before her.

She was shocked to find herself disapointed when her traveling eyes discovered a scrap of cloth that passed for a sheet covering Skywalker's... modesty. She stayed that way for a long moment, enjoying the sight before slapping herself in the face, trying to drive away such thoughts about Skywalker, of all people!

Finding new reserves of resolve, Mara strode to his bedside and tapped him on the shoulder. Nothing. She tapped harder. Still nothing. Smirking to herself, she decided to enter his mind and wake him up using the Force. Maybe that would finally get him off her back about training harder.

As she focused her mind onto his, she easily slipped past his sleeping defenses and looked into his mind. He was dreaming of... red-gold hair?

Mara could feel the heat rising in her face, and covered up her discomfort by smacking Skywalker on the shoulder.

"Wake up. I'm even better in real life," she stated.

"I warned you what would happen if you ever invaded my mind," Skywalker sleepily responded. 

"If I invaded your mind, you'd never wake up," she threw back at him, impressed despite herself at how quickly he shifted from deep sleep to awake enough to hold a conversation.

"You're free to try whenever you like," he challenged, eyes still closed.

"I'll remember that. But I didn't come here to fight with you. I need your help. I think I sensed something during the night. I'm not sure if I did or not, so I need your opinion."

"Mara, it's two in the morning. Don't you think this could wait until morning?"

"If I thought that, I wouldn't be in your room at this hour!" she seethed back at him.

"Are you sure about that?" he muttered softly, eyes still closed and mind drifting back to sleep. Mara smacked him again and walked over to his door.

"I'm serious. What ever I felt, if anything, was really disturbing. Meet me in the kitchen." Skywalker gave up with a sigh that was half a yawn.

"I'll be ready by the time you're dressed," he said.

Mara smirked and turned back to face him. She reached up and snapped the slender strap of her skimpy sleepwear. "Well, I am dressed."

Skywalker's eyes flew open.

Her new sleep garment had cost a rather exorbitant amount of money, money that now seemed well-spent. It was a top-of-the-line brandname article.

Funny how "brandname" usually meant "revealing".

She allowed Luke the barest moment's view of her wearing it, in all of its tight, curve-hugging, revealing splendor. Then she spun on her heel and started to walk out. She could feel his eyes watching her, and that only put extra slink into her hips as she sashayed out of the room, grinning ear-to-ear.

Somehow, the rest of her stay on Yavin IV was looking to be much more entertaining.

Two of Master Skywalker's students were out, prowling the hallways in a bout of insomnia when they heard a door close. They walked towards the sound, and realized that it was the Master's door closing. They looked at each other, shrugged, and moved foreward.

Then they saw Mara Jade swagger out of his room in what had to be the galaxy's skimpiest, sexiest woman's night clothing possible. And she was grinning.

They looked at each other again for a moment, each processing what they'd seen.

"Naaah," they said to each other and quickly walked away.


	10. Story 9

Mara paced back and forth in the small training room trying to control her anger. Did Skywalker go out of his way to make everything on that dirtball of a world small? Her week of isolation -imprisonment, she growled to herself- was almost up. Then he'd give her back her parts and she'd be off Yavin IV fast enough to make that farmboy head of his spin. But...

She reluctantly admitted to herself that so far, it hadn't been a horrible week. It had had its moments already. She snickered to herself at the look on his face after that first night. She chuckled to herself at how distraught he'd looked in the kitchen. She laughed out loud when she remembered the little looks he'd been sneaking at her when he thought she wasn't watching. In fact, she resolved on the spot to make that outfit her offical nightwear whenever she was exiled at the Jedi Academy. Just to get under his skin, she reasoned.

The little remote buzzed, bringing her out of her thoughts. Lightsaber practice. For some reason, Skywalker had her working on her skills with the Jedi weapon; skills that didn't really need practicing. But the little droid hovering in front of her had thus far completely stumped her efforts at stopping. It was a new excersise recently developed at the Academy in which the student was to deflect the low-power blaster bolt back at the droid, trying to hit it with its own weapon. But so far, the blasted thing was just too fast. Zipping this way and that, just skipping one beat ahead of the redirected blasts. Well, that was about to change.

Mara locked her wrists solidly around her lightsaber and activated the remote, promising herself that this time she'd get it. And she tried, she really did. But the darned thing just kept mocking her with that slight buzz of repulserlifts as it flitted about the room, her deflected bolts scoring the stone walls but coming no where near the droid.

It was finally too much, and she shut her lightsaber off and threw it against the wall in frustration. The impromptu missle never made it there, stopping in mid-air and hovering in place.

"It'll never work that way, Mara," came that familiar voice, and she gritted her teeth. Terrific. Now she was going to get lectured and patronized at the same time. She thought long and hard about breaking Skywalker's nose, but decided that the effort wasn't really worth it. That farmboy had been hit by much stronger people and still had a skull as thick as duracrete.

"So why don't you show me how it should work, then?" she asked in as civil a tone as possible. Then her eyes narrowed as Skywalker proceeded to do just that. Activating her lightsaber, he strode into the centre of the room and turned to face her fully, his back to the remote. Mara could feel a pulse of Force power ripple around his body, and the remote suddenly sprang into action, firing a bolt at the Jedi's unprotected back. Skywalker held Mara's gaze for a long, long moment, the time stretching out between them. It seemed like an eternity before the Jedi whirled around and snapped her lightsaber up into a solid defensive block. Luke didn't stop there, but continued around in his circle until he was facing Mara again, all in the same motion.

Behind him, the droid was nailed squarely with its own blaster bolt and shut down.

Mara's mouth gaped open. The fluidity of the move, the economy of movement startled her, and she knew what was going to happen ahead of time. Then her pride caught up with her mind and she stalked over to him and snatched her lightsaber from his outstretched hand. She pulled her hand back, ignited the blade again, and whipped it forward, hoping to catch Skywalker by surprise.

No such luck. A green-white blade appeared in front of hers in an instant, and she never saw his hand move to his own weapon. She raised an eyebrow at the challenge and accepted it with a backhanded strike of her own, which was just as easily blocked.

They battled across the room, attacking and blocking each other with such ease that it would have looked like a choreographed routine to anyone observing. But it was completely random, and Mara was thrown by how easily she was matching Skywalker's moves. It was as if her body knew exactly what his body wanted to do and she could easily set up for the moves, and her mind was stuck playing catch-up.

Skywalker came at her with a slow overhead chop, and she was able to easily parry it. What she wasn't ready for, however, was the lightning fast side-to-side strike that followed immediatly, and she was wide out of position to block it. For the briefest of moments, she thought that his blade had struck home and she was dead. But she didn't feel pain, just the cool whisper of air over bare skin.

Mara blinked hard, then looked to the side. He hadn't cut her body, just the sleeve of her jumpsuit. The stroke by Skywalker had torn off a patch of her clothes, leaving her arm completely exposed.

Her eyes narrowed. He was going to pay for that. Oh, yes. He would pay.

Unfortunatly, Skywalker just wasn't cooperating. His lightsaber was everywhere, completely closing down any opportunties she may have had for an attack. But... her trained eye noticed a small hole in his strategy, and her body was moving to exploit it before her mind could fully comprehend things.

One long step brought her very close to him, fully inside his defensive circle. His lightsaber technique was based on long, sweeping strikes that do an effective job against ranged opponents but were utterly useless against a woman who was as close to him as she now was.

She grinned as his eyes widened and his lighsaber skipped to block her strikes. Now she was in control of the fight and she was going to enjoy it. Small, short stabs were the order of the day, given that she didn't have the room for larger blows, but that would be sufficient. Skywalker was on the complete defensive, backing away and trying to get more room. Mara wasn't going to allow it. She kept time with him, stepping when he did, moving when he did.

But it didn't last. Skywalker faked a lightsaber strike, ducked under her outstretched swordarm, and gave her a hard shoulder shove, pushing her back. Mara recovered quickly, but realized that she'd lost the momentum, and that Skywalker was back in his preferred terriroty.

Fighting down the wariness that threatened to overcome her, she darted forward, trying to bring the attack back to him, to put him on the defensive again. No such luck. Luke stood stock-still until the very last possible moment, when he exploded into action, his lightsaber flicking back and forth behind her blade, somehow slipping through her defenses. In a flash, her other sleeve joined its twin, and her arms were bare to his view.

She glanced at her arms, then to Skywalker. He was smirking at her. Oooooh, that did it. Mara charged forward, chopping this way and that, the familiar energies filling her muscles. But Skywalker, damn him, now had a perfect defense that simply shut down any attempts to hurt the man. Then he slipped to the side and stuck his lightsaber out, forcing Mara to veer off to one side to avoid being run through. She easily heard the blade of the energy weapon parting fabric, but couldn't feel any cool air on her legs, which she expected. Sparing a glance down confirmed that the legs of jumpsuit were still attatched and in one piece. Odd, considering Skywalker's current mood, but she wasn't about to complain. The thought of being this unclothed in front of Skywalker wasn't a very cheery one. 

A thought Skywalker paid no heed to, since he made another horizontal slash. _Now_ Mara could feel cool air whispering across her skin. But it wasn't her legs. It was... Mara looked down. 

He's sliced off the front of her jumpsuit, leaving her midriff totally bare.

Mara's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and she could feel the heat rising in her face. Did he just do-? she started to ask herself before fury took over. How _dare_ he? An angry shout rose in her throat and she tore into Skywalker's defense with a blur of lightsaber strikes, each fueled by the indignity of her state of undress, and, more importantly, the man causing it.

Skywalker, perhaps realizing that maybe he'd pushed things too far, fell back and focused fully on defense. Not that it was going to save him. Mara's arms were blurs, her lightsaber blade a dangerous line of hard light flashing back and forth. But while she still couldn't hit him, she was able to slip beneath his arm and move so tightly against his body that they were touching.

She brought her arm back to punch his nose through the back of his skull, but he ducked beneath her arm, wrapped a solid lock around her elbow, and twisted her around and around, bringing her arm across her chest. She had to twist with the move to keep her elbow from dislocating, but the result was Mara's back presssed tightly against Luke's chest, her lightsaber trapped against her chest by the arm Luke had a hold on. They were taking a small breather, both panting hard. Somehow, Mara suspected it had little to do with the workout.

Mara could feel his hot breath tickling her ear, his heart hammering through his chest against her back, and she felt a silly grin spread itself over her face. She had no intentions of moving. Far from it, she couldn't belive how... how... how _good_ it felt to be in his arms like that. She twisted her neck around and discovered his face right beside hers.

Suddenly, her heart was pounding as strongly as his.

Her gaze drifted down and down and down until settling on his lips. So close to hers, just a little more twist of the neck... before she understood what was happening, what she was thinking or feeling, Mara started to lean a little closer to him, bringing her lips a little closer to his. Closer... closer...

Then, due to some unknown and entirely inappropriatly programmer's mistake, the little remote, which had been hovering off to the side in standby, suddenly whined to life and darted across the room to the entwined fighters. That did it. Whatever spell had been brewing between Luke and Mara popped like a bubble, leaving only confusion in its wake.

Mara pulled back from Luke's slack grip and turned to look at him. Oddly enough, her eyes just couldn't meet his. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sounds came out. She tried again, and only a quiet croak emerging. When she finally could make her mouth work properly, she spoke at the same time Luke did.

"Luke, I-"

"Mara-"

They both broke off immediatly, each waiting for the other to speak. But neither did, and silence reigned, each becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Ironically, it was the little disturbing remote that came to the rescue. It had finally reached its programmed range and fired. Jedi training took over and Mara was pulling away from Luke altogether, bringing her lightsaber up to deflect the oncoming bolt before she knew what she was doing.

Inwardly, Mara was thankful for the droid. Fighting like this was something she was used to and could deal with. Not sorting out her conflicting feelings for Luke Skywalker.

The red bolt reflected off of her weapon and just barely missed Luke, who hopped into the air and brought his lightsaber down, trying to take her head clean off. Mara dodged to the side, somersaulting out of the way, the cold stone floor chilling her flesh were it touched her bare lower back.

Funny how after that last close encounter with Luke, Mara was no longer as upset at how he was effectivly stripping her bare as she once was. 

She chose not to dwell on that change too much, instead trying to focus on the fight anew. The zipping remote added an interesting flavour to the battle, since having even low-powered blasters taking random potshots at each opponent raised the difficulty level by several notches. Twice, Mara was nearly caught by Luke's lightsaber, the blaster bolt, or both, and she was skipping to make her defenses instead of solidly setting herself for them.

Mara gritted her teeth as she saw Luke having no apparent troubles with splitting his attention between her and droid. She huffed to herself. If she couldn't get more of his attentions than that, she must've been losing her touch. A small part of her mind resolved that she would be paying another visit to the Jedi Master's room that night.

During that small thought, Luke took the opening and thrust his lightsaber high above his head, relfecting a red bolt right at her. She had no time to dodge and she hastily brought her own saber blade up, somehow getting it in front of the beam of light in time. Even more amazingly, the bolt deflected off her saber and right at the droid that fired it in the first place!

Mara gaped for a moment, then lashed forward, enveloped Luke's blade with her own, tore it off to the side, and disarmed him. She held the tip of her blade close to his throat for a moment, then pulled it away and shut it off. "Good fight there, farmboy," she said, fighting hard to keep the emotional quiver out of her voice. She looked at Luke as she picked up his lightsaber and could see a flicker of emotion in his eyes at the business-like tone. Then the emotion died and the Jedi Master came back.

"That's the proper way, Mara. Don't think too hard about it, and the Force will make it happen," he said, before taking his weapon back, turning around and walking out, leaving Mara alone with her thoughts after one last over-the-shoulder look at the woman.

In that stone room, surrounded by the tatters of her own clothes that revealed too much of her body, Mara couldn't have been happier. It suddenly all made sense, everything that she'd been trying and failing at the Jedi Academy. On impulse, she took control of the remote and turned it on to its highest difficulty setting.

Not once did she miss the little droid on the return shot.


	11. Story 10

What a week it had been, Luke reflected It started off like a good idea, to give Mara some time away from work that she badly needed and to get a little training into her red-gold head at the same time. Kill two gundarks with one stone, right? Well, it had turned out a little different than planned.

Sure, he'd expected Mara to be a little angry at his stunt, but he had hoped that eventually she'd see the wisdom in his actions and maybe even thank him for the time off. But no, that wasn't to be. He didn't know why he thought it could be any other way, given Mara's usual reaction to any ideas he might suggest, but he'd hoped that just once she'd open her mind and look at things from a different perspective than shoot first, shoot second, shoot third, and possibly consider asking questions fourth.

So at first, he weathered her icy countenance with all the grace and dignity he could muster, which turned out to be not a whole heck of a lot when it came to Mara Jade. The quiet glares, the subtly narrowed eyes, the aggressive speech patterns, the quiet menace in the way she carried herself. And that was just the first afternoon.

That night, however... Luke trailed off, smiling softly to himself. Whatever Mara was thinking at the time, it blindsided him like an ISD on full throttle. Not many people could do that to him, and Mara had succeeded remarkably well. Even more confusing was her behaviour after that meeting. It had changed, softened a little bit, and he'd found himself wondering just what had changed her mind about staying on Yavin IV. She even started taking an active interest in the lessons he'd previously had to force-feed her.

Of course, it didn't help matters that she would usually be smirking at him during those lessons. Much the same way she was smirking at him right then. He shook his head to bring it back to the present, which was on the landing pad at the Great Temple, the _Jade's Fire _all repaired and ready for launch, her owner and pilot exhaustivly checking every little detail of the reinstallation of the hyperdrive motivators.

"Why don't you just drool over every drab of paint?" he quietly asked himself. Not quietly enough.

"What was that, Skywalker?" Mara called from the other side of the small ship. "You'd better not be making jokes about my ship," she continued as Luke opened his mouth to defend himself. "Because if you are, I'll march right over there and kick you from here to Coruscant."

"Yes, Mara. Of course, Mara. I'm sure you could, Mara." Apparently she didn't like that response since she leaned aside her ship's nacelle and glared at him. Luke fought the smile and lost. She narrowed her eyes at that, which only made Luke grin broader. Mara stepped around her ship and marched up to him, almost nose-to-nose.

"Pushing it, Skywalker."

"So what?" Mara blinked at that. Apparently she wasn't used to people not responding to her threats with instant fear.

"It won't be to Coruscant. I'll just kick you. Hard."

"Like you did the last time?" Luke challenged, and both suddenly fell quiet, minds on another fight, another situation, another set of feelings. What had started off as a simple lesson in lightsaber combat had mushroomed into something more, something that neither Luke nor Mara were prepared for or quite comfortable with. What exactly it had become was a mystery to Luke, and Mara wasn't sharing anything she knew.

The silence stretched out between them, and again it was a mechanical that came to the rescue. Mara's ship completed its autocheck and beeped an affirmative, breaking the tension in the air that had crackled with an emotional electricity. Mara took the first step back and turned around, busying herself with packing her gear. Luke just watched her, telling himself he wasn't admiring her at all.

"Well, that's it for this trip, Skywalker. If you ever do this to me again-"

"I know, I know. You'll hurt me."

"Badly, so don't you forget it," she wagged a warning finger at his face. Then her face softened and she continued quietly, "It wasn't that bad a week. Some parts better than others."

"Yeah," was the only response that came to mind, his tongue feeling like lead and unresponsive. "Just remember what you've learned here, Mara," he pressed on, falling back onto the more comfortable and familiar teaching mode. "Don't rush things, don't force it. Sooner or later, it'll happen and you might not even know it."

Mara just rolled her eyes in amused irritation. "Don't you ever give up? Rhetorical question, don't answer it. Anyway, if there's anything I'm going to take away from this it's... it's... that your food could use some improvements," she finally rushed out, though Luke got the impression she had meant to say something else.

"I'll let Tionne know," he found himself saying, though that wasn't what was on his mind and his tongue was suddenly uncooperative again. Mara seemed as unable to talk as he, so she just stood there and looked up, waiting for him to make some sort of move. "Will you be coming back?"

"It wasn't totally horrible," Mara considered, though she looked like she was expecting - hoping? - for a different question.. "Sure, ask me back any time. But no promises that I'll say yes," she rushed to intercept any requests that she stay another week or two. Then she suddenly grinned. "Just make sure the food is better before you invite me for dinner again."

Luke returned her grin. "I will."

With that, Mara turned back to her ship and finshed packing all her gear while Luke started away from the landing pad. Maybe she was feeling playful. Maybe she'd planned to do that from the start. Maybe she was just messing with his head. Whatever the reason, she softly called, "Hey, Luke," and he turned back to her, very aware that she rarely used his first name.

Her green eyes were sparkling with barely-controlled laughter, her body language radiation extreme satisfaction. "Pleasant... dreams," she said with a pregnant pause and a wickedly suggestive wink. Then, just to prove her point, she slowly turned around and sauntered towards her ship.

Exactly the same move she'd done that first night in his room, wearing a scrap of clothing that had hid little and suggested lots.

And just like that night, Luke's attention locked onto her body as she moved away, eyes seeing her jumpsuit and mind seeing her lingerie. As soon as she disappeared from view, he put his head in his hands and groaned.

It was going to be a long time before that image was out of his mind.


	12. Story 11

Grr. That was the only thing Mara could think of to adequatly express her feelings. Sure, her week spent on Yavin IV hadn't been a total bust, and in fact had some of the most memorable events in recent history. The problem was the fact that Luke Skywalker simply wouldn't stay out of her mind.

Oh, not in the literal fact. The distance seperating her from the Jedi Master was so great that not even he could casually contact her, and that's what annoyed her most of all. Skywalker himself had nothing to do with her problem. It was entierly in her own head.

First she'd just dismissed it as continued enjoyment of the look on his face as she took off the day before, watching him bury his face in his hands. The mere thought alone brought a smile to her lips. She could easily imagine the groan he was sure to have uttered as she slinked away. She'd planned it like that.

However, what she didn't plan was how her heart had been hammering in her chest, and every time she thought of stealing a glance over her shoulder to see just how badly Luke was staring at her, it beat faster. By the time she'd reached the landing ramp of the _Jade's Fire_ her hands were shaking badly from adrenaline and the restrained emotions flooding her system.

And now, well over a full day afterwords, she was still thinking about what had happened and how Luke had reacted. She knew she got looks from many people, from strangers met on the street all the way up to ambassadors and the highest political echelons, but none of them had ever affected as Luke's had. She usually got angry at all the attention. In fact, she hated it... usually. But this time something was different.

Mara leaned down and whacked her head on the display screen in front of her, trying desperatly to drive such thoughts out of her mind. Sighing, she struggled to bring her mind back to the business at hand. To ease her back into her job after her "vacation" (Karrde's exact words), her boss had given her an easy assignment, pick up and deliver a new ship driver to the _Wild Karrde_. Mara wanted to hurt Karrde for treating her like some delicate piece of jewlery, since he of all people should know better. But no, Karrde was certain that is what he wanted, and since he was the one that signed her credit statement on payday, that's what he was going to get.

Much to Mara's surprise, the captain that Karrde had recruited was another woman, named Faughn. Mara found herself liking the new captain. If she could discount the fact that Faughn was a chatter, that is. The woman just never seemed to shut up about anything. First it was about the ride and how long it would take. Then it was about Karrde and what he was like to work for. Then about Mara's personal life, which didn't last long as a topic of conversation. Finally, the other woman had to leave for a moment and Mara could revel in the silence that finally descended upon the small command deck of her own ship. A moment that didn't last long enough.

"So where were we? Oh, yeah, we were talking about your schedule and how you got me," Faughn breezily called out as she sat down at the co-pilot station. Mara raised her head from the panel and looked at her, had half a mind to tell the other woman to go space herself and leave her alone. But that would've been unprofessional and unbecoming of the second-in-command of Karrde's organization. 

"I just came from Yavin IV," Mara said instead, forcing herself to practice being a good hostess. She cursed Karrde silently for teaching her the proper manners of a employer. So much easier and quicker to get her point violently across. More satisfying, too.

"The Jedi Academy? Ooooh, what's it like?" If she were to gush any more, Mara thought, she'd cause a flood.

"Boring, stupifying, and small," Mara answered, then thought about a Jedi Master in particular. "Also, it's ingrating, irritating, and just plain annoying," she growled. 

Faughn must have missed it or misread it, because she then asked, "Did you happen to see the Jedi Master while there? Luke Skywalker?"

"Sadly, yes, I did," Mara answered.

"Isn't he just the cutest thing?"

"What?" Mara focused on the other woman, suddenly hating her with a passion.

"I think he's totally cute and so do my friends. We all watch the Holonet reports and every year, he's number one," Faughn gushed again, though Mara was a bit too occupied to catch it.

"Number one what?"

"What do you mean, number one what? Number one on the Holonet Societies pages list, of course."

"What list would that be? I don't read the Societies pages."

"You... don't read them?" Faughn echoed, as if she simply couldn't believe there was a woman who didn't read them. Which wasn't exactly true, since Mara did occasionally grace the fashion pages, but that was just to pick up on what fashions were in every year so she could plan ahead and blend in easier. "Well... er... in that case, what it is is a section of the Holonet devoted to the important things. You know, clothes, hairstyles, etcetera. Every year, they have a list of the galaxy's most eligable bachellors, and Luke Skywalker has always topped that list at the number one spot."

Mara could feel her eyes narrowing at Faughn. "Has he, now?"she asked, voice deceptivly calm, though her knuckles were turning white as they gripped the armrests of her chair. Mara wondered if Faughn had even been to Yavin IV or met Skywalker in person.

"Oh, yeah. And he deserves that spot, too. Just imagine being married to him, imagine what it would be like."

  
"I'd rather not. I want to keep my appitite for breakfast," Mara responded, certain that such thoughts would ruin any desire for food.

"Breakfast? Don't you mean dinner?"

"Nope, you talked all the way through dinner and it's almost midnight now."

"Really? Wow, time really does fly when you're having fun! But on that note, I really should be going to bed," Faughn said and got up to leave. Mara said nothing to stop or slow the other woman down, only wanting her _gone_. As soon as the hatch door had closed, Mara groaned aloud. Why could she never escape mention of Luke Skywalker?

Though she glanced at the appropriate station, Mara didn't log onto the Holonet to find out for herself if what Faughn had said was true. She was the ship's captain and had more important duties to attend to. But... but... she found herself always glancing over at the screen, as if the dead picture was somehow mocking her. No matter what she tried to do, she found herself always gazing at it. Finally, Mara gave up in disgust and logged onto the Holonet.

It took a few minutes of reading, but she eventually found her way to the appropriate page after bypassing some useless ads for cosmetics that threatened to pull her away from her mission. Societies pages. Home of the fashion nuts, makeover mavens, and other sundry types that refused to get proper employment. Mara sighed. That was a little over the top, given how she knew that Leia Organa Solo was known to read publications like that on occasion, Winter Celchu adored them and Mirax Horn was almost addicted to them, and all of those women had "proper employment".

Mara finally found what she was looking for, and sure enough, Faughn was right. The number one eligible bachellor of the year was none other than Luke Skywalker. The reasons submitted from readers ranged from "exotic" to "powerful" all the way to "so darn gorgeous it's not funny". Checking back on previous years, she saw that Faughn was still right and that Skywalker did indeed top the list each year, going back as far as the first anniversary of Endor.

Mara was so absorbed by what she was reading, she never noticed the hatch door opening again until Faughn softly called out, "Hey, Jade?" Mara jumped and spun around, a small cry escaping her lips at getting caught. Faughn raised an eyebrow at the small blush creeping across Mara's face, but didn't comment on it. "In case you were wondering, no, I've never met the man personally," Faughn said and then walked out again.

Grr, Mara thought. Somehow this was all Skywalker's fault. It had to be. Somehow.


	13. Story 12

Mara stared at her reflection in the mirror, wondering just how stupid she really was. Apparently, quite stupid. It had started like any other day: work, work, and still more work. Though she had her own ship, she was still a part of Karrde's organization and still had put in apperances with him as his second-in-command.

That also entailed taking a bridge shift on the Wild Karrde to prove to the rest of the organization that she hadn't forgotten her roots in the rank and file on her lofty rise. However, that also meant having to be partnered with Aves again. Aves and that stupid cup of caf that seemed to be surgically grafted to his hand.

Mara grit her teeth. How difficult was it for that fool to learn to keep the mug on his side of the centre console? When she first walked onto the bridge, the mug was casually sitting smack-dab in the middle of her seat. Though her first instinct was to break Aves' arm, she somehow managed to restrain herself and merely coughed politely, trying to prove to Karrde that she was capable of learning manners. The twit glanced at her, picked his cup up and promptly dropped it down on the centre console. On her side of the console. Her desire to break his arm resurfaced and she had to fight it with all her will, instead narrowing her eyes at him and he either didn't get the clue or was tempting his fate for some reason. He pulled the cup over a few centimetres until it was straddling the dividing line. Mara growled, all attempts at control rapidly fleeing and her mind working out the various ways she could hurt Aves with the minimal amount of effort. Aves heaved a theatrical sigh and moved the cup fully over onto his side.

Mara weaved back and forth to check all the angles. Sadly enough, it was finally on his side and there was nothing more she could complain about, though the idea of cracking a few ribs still appealed to her. Plopping down into her seat and flipping switches to start her shift, she settled on glaring at Aves in much the same manner as she did Skywalker. Unlike that foolish Jedi, Aves blinked and edged away from her as much as his seat would allow and Mara had to smile at that. Finally someone who knew to properly fear her.

Unlike Skywalker, who only seemed to find perpetual enjoyment at her attempts of frightening him, Aves recognized that Mara was quite capable of hurting him severely and leaving him in a broken, bloody heap. Which is how she liked to be thought of. Now then, if she could only convince Skywalker of that... Why is that she could never quite scare him like she could everyone else in the galaxy? Mara grit her teeth. One way or another, she'd get through that dense skull Skywalker had and then she'd make him pay. Oh, yes. He would pay.

Mara blinked as Aves snapped his fingers beside her ear and had to physically restrain herself from lashing out and breaking his jaw. "Mara, you alright?"

"Of course I'm alright. Why would you think otherwise?" Aves pointed down at the crushed printout Mara had in her balled fist. "Oh. Um, oops?" Mara said lamely as she uncurled her fist and vainly tried to read the crumpled flimsy. Stupid Skywalker, that was all his fault. Not only was he infuriating but now he was interfering with her work. She'd definitly have some words with him over that. She blinked as Aves coughed and pointed at her hand. She'd again balled her fist and re-crumpled the printout. Mara sighed and just gave up, clicking off her screen and leaning back against the seat. How could Skywalker make the day any worse?

About two seconds later, Mara regretted that thought. Temping the fates, it seemed, was a bad idea because Karrde finally spoke up to her about a formal ball being held on Coruscant and how he thought it'd be a good way of meeting new clients and staying in touch with their contacts in the New Republic, hence insuring future work for everyone. Unfortunatly, he had already commited to other business and they really needed someone to put in a good showing. Which in turn meant that his second in command really should think about going herself.

Mara initially resisted. "I have no talent for things like that! If you want them bullied and beaten, then call me, but for peaceful chatter you'd be better off on someone else."

"But think of this as a way of learning those skills, Mara," Karrde soothed. "Besides, our current clients don't trust the word of any but you and I, and you know that." Mara glared and held her ground that she was totally unsuited for it. "Well, it has to be you. See, Skywalker has finally run out of excuses to avoid it and you mentioned that you wanted to see him stuck like that-"

"I'll go!" Mara cried, interrupting her employer in mid-sentence and drawing the attention of every crewmember present, regardless of what they're supposed to have been doing. Mara then cast a wary glance around the bridge, suddenly realizing that she'd again drawn an audience and she walked over to Karrde's chair. "Alright, you convinced me. When is it?"

"That's the problem, it's in three days, which only leaves you just enough time to pack up here and burn your way to Coruscant. I know you just arrived, but this takes precedence so you're excused from your current duties. And don't forget to try to have fun. It won't do if all our clients have the wrong impression about our group," Karrde added with a sardonic grin that broadened at Mara's sharp look. She somehow managed to grind out a rejoinder that didn't totally break the rules of ettiquite when dealing with ones employer, but came close.

All of that lead to Mara sitting in front of the mirror in her quarters, trying to decide exactly what she could cobble together in a very short amount of time that would suit a full formal ball. Oh, the gown wouldn't be a problem because she had several available to her in her apartment on Coruscant that were tailored and ready to go, but trying to match all the accessories she'd be needing in that short timeframe would be a pain. No to mention what she'd do with her hair, though there was Zharvian twist she saw when she was reading the Societies section of the Holonet that she had liked.

It took her a few minutes of studying the Holonet pages to find the picture that had detailed the newest trend in fashions, including the popular hairstyles of the Coruscanti elite and it detailed how to go about how one could do it for herself. But the amount of effort it would take to get all the braids, curls, and strands to work made Mara reconsider the idea since there were many other simpler styles that she could use for a formal occasion.

So many choices, so little time to decide. Mara figurede she'd have enough time on the trip to settle on what look she was going to use to upstage Skywalker and his friends. A smile touched her lips at that thought.


End file.
